1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the transmission of sound information in a system for controlling devices located in a remote place using a Web browser (hereinafter referred to as a ‘Web-based control system’) and, more particularly, to a method that transmits sound information, corresponding to an occurring event, to a control device when the event occurs in the control target device of a Web-based control system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a home network system can be implemented in the form of a system for controlling other devices based on the Web.
For example, a home network system can be implemented in such a way that a Web browser is installed in a digital television, and a user controls another device connected to the digital television, for example, a Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) player, through the Web browser, using a remote controller.
That is, in order to control several devices constituting the home network system (hereinafter referred to as ‘control target devices’), the Web browser is installed in each device having a user interface, such as a digital television or a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), and is connected to each Web server provided in another device, so that control target devices may be controlled.
FIG. 1 illustrates a method of controlling a control target device using a Web browser, as described above.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional Web-based control system includes a control device 100 and a control target device 110. The control device 100 is provided with a Web browser for controlling the control target device 110, such as a digital television or a PDA. The control target device 110 may be provided with a Web server for receiving a request from the control device 100 through a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), processing the request, and transmitting processing results to the control device 100 using HTTP.
The Web browser of the control device 100 transmits a request to the Web server using HTTP, and receives a response to the request.
First, a user executes the Web browser installed in the control device 100, and accesses the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the control target device 110 that is intended to be controlled through the Web browser. In this case, the Web browser is directly connected to the Web server of the control target device 110. The Web server of the control target device 110 transmits a corresponding homepage to the control device 100.
The user uses a control service provided by the control target device 110 in the homepage provided by the control target device 110 through the Web browser. For example, when a DVD player is the control target device 110, the user can execute a “PLAY” command through the Web browser of the control device 100.
The Web server calls the unique function of the device through a Common Gateway Interface (CGI), executes the user's command, and transmits the execution results to the control device 100. In this case, the results can be transmitted in the form of Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) code. The Web browser of the control device 100, having received the results, provides the corresponding results to the user.
The fact that a control command provided by the control target device intended to be controlled is executed through the homepage provided by the control target device using the Web browser is advantageous in that, even though the user does not know detailed information about the control target device, the user can control the control target device. However, there is a disadvantage in that, when an event occurs in the control target device due to another control device, or when an event occurs due to variation in the internal status of the control target device, the occurrence of the event cannot be detected. That is, in the homepage of the control target device, which has been loaded into the Web browser, variation in status caused by the occurrence of the event is not considered, so that the control target device may not operate normally. For example, if the control target device is in a stopped state when the homepage of the control target device is called, and is changed from the stopped state to a playing state by another control device, the control target device may actually change to a paused state even though the user clicks a play button on the homepage already loaded into the Web browser. Further, the occurrence of an event in the control target device cannot be detected, so there is no method of reloading the homepage of the control target device, loaded into the Web browser, and having the latest data.
In order to solve this problem, Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-0018317 discloses a method of easily controlling a control target device using a convenient method even though the detailed content of the control target device is not known, and of allowing a control device to easily detect the occurrence of an event when the event occurs in the control target device.
However, in this case, the control device can detect an event corresponding to variation in the status of the control target device, but a method of transmitting sound information, for example, a warning sound or an effect sound, when there is a necessity to transmit sound information, corresponding to the status variation of the control target device, to the control device, is not disclosed.